DALLAS — Connor McDavid has two scoring titles and an MVP award, but well into his fourth NHL season, he’s only been in the playoffs once.

So you know his nose is pressed up against the glass with a “let me in, let me in,” cry that values hockey in April and May just as much as trophies in June.

He’s eight points south of Mikko Rantanen (43), playing for a wide-open Colorado team alongside Nate MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, forming the best line in the league. McDavid is fifth in the scoring race with just seven points in the six games Ken Hitchcock has coached.

While that may be just fine for mere NHL mortals, it’s pretty pedestrian stuff for McDavid. So, maybe he won’t win a third Art Ross with Hitchcock’s grind-it-out game now, but he’ll learn to live with it if the Oilers finish in the top three in the Pac-8 Division.

Hitchcock isn’t playing him any less than former Oilers head coach Todd McLellan, so any talk of that is utter nonsense. He’s played at least 23 minutes in every Hitchcock-coached game with gusts up close to 25. And he’s been double-shifted on the fourth line.

Hitchcock has a different appreciation for McDavid now that he’s on his side. He was absolutely electric against Vegas and could have had a hat-trick, maybe five points. He surely deserved his 72nd multiple-point game, a league best since 2016-17.

But he only got the one goal on eight shots.

“I’ve never seen a player who can be two steps in front of a (back-peddling) defencemen and it’s full panic.” said Hitchcock. “To be that quick, to get off the mark that quickly … I mean, when he’s on a one-on-one with a player, you are in trouble.”

Like when McDavid blew around Brayden McNabb to score, stopping on a dime as he ripped across the crease and casually lifted a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury. Or later in the first, when Vegas’ best defenceman, Nate Schmidt, was grasping at air as McDavid went past him.

“Maybe Pavel Bure was like this but other than that, I don’t know … Connor is such an incredible player,” said Hitchcock, who didn’t get any argument from the Golden Knights.

“We were all over them (for the first six minutes) and McDavid makes a play out of nothing and scores on that one,” said Max Pacioretty. “He made about five or six of them that no one in the world has ever been able to do, except for him.”

HAPPY VALENTIN

Five years ago, Valentin Zykov edged McDavid to win the Canadia Hockey League’s rookie of the year.

Zykov had 40 goals and 75 points in Baie-Comeau in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Of course, the Russian winger was 17 and McDavid was only 15 and in his first Ontario Hockey League season with the Erie Otters on the way to a 66-point season), but Zykov, who is built more like The Tank, Andrei Kovalenko, than Nikita Kucherov, can score.

Or, he did in junior and he did last season with an American Hockey League-best 33 goals – all of which can be found on YouTube, for those inclined. The person who put them up obviously has more time on their hands than all of us.

Now, can Zykov score on the same Edmonton Oilers team as McDavid?

He may be a bit of a one-trick pony. A scorer but not fast. And a big pony.

At the 2013 draft, the Oilers wanted goalie Zach Fucale with their 37th overall pick but Montreal took him at 36, so they swapped 37 to L.A. for some later draft candy. One of the third-round picks they used on Anton Slepyshev, and Fucale? Last we looked, he was playing in Fort Wayne in the East CHL so missing out on Fucale was a break.

Zykov’s equipment was late arriving from Carolina after the Friday waiver claim, so he didn’t suit up against Vegas Sunday. And with the Oilers’ win over Vegas, maybe he sits in Dallas Monday, as well. But they like the right-shot left-winger.

“This is a perfect example of analytics, looking through that glass at what we need,” said Hitchcock. “He fits where we are weak. He’s strong and scores from short range, he’s got a quick stick in close, he fights for position and holds his ice. We need more help there.”

When my assistant said there was a call from the White House, I picked up, said 'Hello' and started to ask if this was a prank

This Week's Flyers

Comments

Postmedia is pleased to bring you a new commenting experience. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. Visit our community guidelines for more information.